Shooting Star Tears
by InnocentDiamond
Summary: An old myth says that when four people see four shooting stars collide at the same time in the sky, their fate will be entangled with each other for thousands of years. And it's about to be proved true between four people with totally different lives.
1. Four Shooting Stars, Four People

Ancient Times

**~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~**

"Grandfather, I'm going onto the observatory tower now!" Alice Gehabich yelled to her grandfather as she gathered her things. "Where's my star chart? Also, I already made dinner. It's reheating on the stove."

"Be careful, Alice. You left it in the kitchen while you were cooking." Dr. Gehabich replied. "I fixed the telescope notch on the railing. You did complain about it, didn't you? Good luck."

"And I was just in the kitchen. Silly me! Thanks, Grandfather!" Alice gave him a big hug and went outside. As the only granddaughter of Michael Gehabich, the most famous astronomer and engineer in Aoumioka, Alice also learned to love the stars and everything about them. The only problem was that she was so into it that her Grandfather got worried that she might not come home for dinner, which happened only once, when the sky was too dark. Nevertheless, Alice was a very happy amateur, although she knew a lot already.

Alice climbed up the small bamboo tower that Dr. Gehabich made for to look at the skies on top of. She put her telescope on the little notch cut at the edge of the railing and looked through it. "Hmm. Not dark enough yet. Sunset was only a few minutes ago." Alice reached for her bag and took out a pork bun to eat. "Grandfather makes the best pork buns."

**~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~**

"Really? Is this the true eternal life elixir that will make me live forever?" Ace asked his subjects. As the king of Aoumioka, Ace desired power and long life more than anything, although he wasn't as greedy as his brothers, who all died in fighting for this position. "Guards, bring one of the prisoners up here!" It took them a few minutes to carry a prisoner out. "Now, prisoner. I'm going to let you try this elixir. If you live, then you're freed. If you don't, then that's it."

"But Your Majesty, I've only made one elixir! How can you not try this for yourself?" the subject yelled. He was already on his knees begging, but Ace only said one thing.

"Relax, doctor. I'm only just trying it out." Ace sighed. "If you can make this elixir, then you can make another elixir. Feed him." A guard took the elixir from the small box that the kneeling subject was holding and fed it to the prisoner. At first, the prisoner struggled, but he swallowed it anyway. "Well? How do you feel? Energized? Alive?"

"Your Majesty, I feel like going back to my prison cell." was his reply. In all of history, this was the most awkward response ever.

"Okay, then. Looks like the elixir didn't work." Ace told the guards to take the prisoner back. "Marukura, you need to work on your medicinal skills."

"Yes, Your Majesty. I'll work on it." Marucho was dismissed.

**~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~**

Mira wasn't happy, just as usual. She sat paced around in her room with an angry expression. No matter how her brother told her to spend dinner time and other times with Ace, the king would never do anything in return. "Keith, I'm tired of just dancing for him, eating with him, and giving him occasional massaging. Isn't there a better way?"

"Mira, you know that the only way to win his heart is to spend as much time with him as possible." Keith drank some tea from his porcelain cup. "You want to be a successful person, right? And if you are, then you'll soon be his queen. We just need the right amount of time." Mira looked away as she picked out another kimono to wear. "Have you tried that new perfume that I recently bought?"

"Not yet." Mira replied. "I didn't even know you bought me a new perfume. Where is it? And how did you get it?"

"I have some friends in the trading industry who said he'll sell me things for a smaller price or even free just to introduce his business to the king." Keith stood up and went to a closet in the room. "Here it is. Beautiful flower mixture scent from all around the world. Try it." Mira opened the box to find delicate fine powder smelling of many scents.

"This is perfect." Mira cheered. "Being a maihime doesn't mean my tactics are limited. It's show time."

**~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~**

Shun stood by the gates by himself as he waited for Dan to come. _Stupid Dan. You're late for guard duty. Wait until I tell __King Ace__._ Just as he was thinking about it, Dan came running at the gates and stood at his position. "Dan, what is wrong with you? You're getting later and later each day."

"You won't get it. When you get a wife like Runo, she'll want to spend as much time as possible with you no matter what." Dan was actually laughing. "Hey, Shun. When are you getting married? You're older than me, but my wedding was a month ago."

"Dan, for the sky's sake. That's my own business." Shun yelled. "Would you like me to report to King Ace that you were late again, so you can get fired and spend all of your time with Runo?" Dan was getting scared, but he always knew what to say back.

"Your own business, huh?" Dan stuck is face right in front of Shun. "Tell me who she is, please. Please, please, please!" Shun was getting tired of this.

"Dan." Shun started. "Would you like to prove that I'm still single by going to every single br-?"

"Forget it! I take everything back." Dan gave up while Shun smirked.

**~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~**

Alice, who had been at the observatory tower for a long time, finally saw some stars. "Finally! This is going to be great! Maybe I shouldn't have left so early." Alice grabbed for another pork bun .She ate while looking at the stars at the same time. "Oh look. It's Polaris!" Then something else caught her eye. "A shooting star!" Another shooting star fell. "Two shooting stars! No, three. Four shooting stars! I need to see where all four of them landed."

Ace was pacing around in the courtyard. _When is this elixir going to be made?_ Ace was getting really impatient. "How long does it take to make another elixir anyway?" Suddenly, people down the halls were yelling. "What the heck is going on down there?!" Somebody said to look up at the night sky, which is what Ace did. "A shooting star. What's so-" Three other shooting stars followed. "Four shooting stars. This is a beautiful sight!"

Looking out from her window, Mira looked at the sky. "Why can't I be a different person?" Mira scolded herself. Her dinner lay cold next to her, still untouched. "Maybe I should eat my dinner to replenish my stamina." Mira was about to grad the plate when a shooting star fell in the sky. "A shooting star! I need to make a wish." When Mira finishing her first wish, she saw more shooting stars. "Four shooting stars? Got to make more wishes! I wish that..."

"Bye, Dan. Don't choke on your dinner." Shun smirked as he waved Dan goodbye. _Maybe staying single isn't that great._ He told the guards that took their places the necessary details. "Good luck, you guys!" As he left the gates, Shun looked up at the sky. "A shooting star. Isn't that a sigh of good luck?" He continued looking at the sky and saw a total of four shooting stars. "Four shooting stars? Then that must be ultimate luck. Maybe I won't be sing-what heck am I saying?! Maybe Dan will come here earlier next time."

Alice, Ace, Mira, and Shun saw the four shooting stars at the same time, a sign that their fate will be mixed up and changed forever.


	2. Meeting Each Other

"Your Majesty, I heard that four shooting stars collided yesterday!" Marucho was yelling in the halls as he went to find Ace. "That is a _very_ rare event, a sign that something great will happen. Now, where did they land? I was busy in a medicinal meeting yesterday that I missed it. They could've landed in the place where the ingredients for the elixir?"

"Really?" Ace questioned. "Why do you think that?"

"Yesterday, my elixir, I admit has failed, so those shooting stars that I _didn't_ see must be marking the place where the ingredient to improve my elixir is." Marucho replied.

"So, what are your plans for now? The shooting stars flew in that direction." Ace pointed to the east side. "I think that's where they landed."

"But Your Majesty, out there is the sea!" Marucho yelled and freaked out. "We can't breathe underwater!"

"Isn't there an island there somewhere?" Ace remembered. "Hopefully, they landed there. That elixir's ingredient must be there. We need to find it! Marucho, please set out for a trip to that island, right now! You do the planning."

"King Ace, it's time for lunch." Mira appeared out of nowhere with a tray of delicious food in her hands. "I hope you don't mind if I spend lunch time with you." She set the tray down on the table outside while setting the table.

"I don't mind at all, Mira. Sit down." Ace also sat down and poured wine into their cups. "Cheers!" Marucho, seeing that he wasn't needed, left the court.

"Somebody call Shun over. I need to talk to him." Ace ordered. A guard ran down the courtyard steps and left. "Okay, Mira. What do you have this time?"

"Your Highness, this time, it's a new dance." Mira replied. "I can show it to you right now." Ace agreed, and the nearby girls carried a beautiful, fabric dance podium over to the center of the courtyard. "Please enjoy." The girls danced on the ground next to the podium while Mira waited for the right time to begin. Soon, she and the girls were dancing together in harmony. Suddenly, when Mira was making multiple twists, she tripped on one of her long sleeves and was about to fall off the podium. "Help!"

"Shun Kazami, reporting to—oh my gosh!" Without even thinking, Shun ran over and caught Mira before she fell. "Are you okay? Did you sprain your ankle?" Mira had no idea what was going on.

"Th-Thanks for saving me." Mira replied. She faced Ace and apologized. "Your Majesty, please excuse my clumsiness. If it wasn't for me, I wouldn't have messed up this beautiful dance." She knelt down in remorse.

Shun knelt down, too. "King Ace, please excuse me for interrupting," he apologized. "What did you want me over for?"

"Mira, you're dismissed. Shun, how is the terra cotta army coming along?" Ace asked as Mira and the girls packed up and left. "I haven't been at the royal kiln for a long time. Been so busy about the elixir lately."

"Progress is growing smoothly, King Ace." Shun reported. "Every single terra cotta warrior is perfect. The only problem is that a couple of workers got injured, so they're on leave, but progress is still great."

"As long as they're made, I don't mind if they leave for a while." Ace replied. "By the way, have you seen yesterday's shooting stars? Marukura thinks that where they landed might have the ingredient for the elixir. What do you think?"

"If he thinks so, then I have nothing against it." Shun replied. "I'm not really a medical person, you see. Although I do kind of know where they landed."

"Where? Tell me where? Is it an island? What's it called?"

"Yes, it's an island, down at the eastern seas. I think it's called Reijima, the so-called Spirit Island. A lot of the merchants I meet at the docks talk about it all the time."

"So it's true. Well, while Marukura prepares for a trip there, you and I are going to take a look at the royal kiln. Come on."

**~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~**

"Aw man. According to my calculations, the shooting stars landed in Reijima, which like a blue sea away from here." Alice yelled. "Please, Grandfather. Can I go there?"

"Alice dear, I let you do a lot of things around here." he replied. "This time, please stay at home. I'll let you look at the stars and work on projects with me as long as you want."

"But Grandfather, this is different! Shooting stars! They actually fell around here. It's a rare sight. Please!"

"Okay then. We'll go to Reijima to get your shooting stars this time ONLY when I'm finished with this puzzle. After that, you have to listen to every word I say. By the way, your cousin Marucho had some news for us. Something about needing a navigator for a trip to somewhere. Do you mind if we go to the royal palace together?"

"Nope, not at all. Come on!" Alice waited at the door while Dr. Gehabich put everything away. It was a long walk from their forest cottage to the palace, and unfortunately, they got separated on the way.

"Oh no. I don't even know the roads around here and got lost." Alice didn't realize that she was at the royal kiln. "Wow, what a huge kiln. What are they baking?" Alice was going to peek inside when somebody stopped her.

"Halt! Who dares go into the royal kiln?" Ace arrived earlier than Shun for some reason. "What are you doing? Do you know who I am?"

"Eh, I was just looking at the kiln. I've never seen a kiln this big before. My Grandfather's kiln is pretty small. What do you bake in here?"

"Uh, we back pottery for the palace. You know how the palace is so magnificent, right? Do really _not_ know who I am?"

"You must be one of the king's advisers then. You know so much about the palace. This is probably going to be my first and last time at the palace. My Grandfather and I were supposed to be here for _something_, but I forgot. Oh no, where's my Grandfather? Got to go. Bye!" Alice ran down the path while Ace thought, _There's actually someone that doesn't know who I am. She's very different from other girls._

Shun was delayed for various reasons, mainly because Dan was nagging him about being single. _I can't wait until you get divorced, Dan._ He was so busy thinking about how to torture Dan that he bumped into Alice by accident. "Ouch!" He saw Alice. "Sorry! Are you alright?" Shun helped Alice up.

"I'm okay, thanks." Alice eyed Shun's armor. "Are you a palace guard? If you are, can you please help me? My Grandfather and I were supposed to be coming here to find my cousin, but we got separated. I don't know where he is. Oh, I forgot. I'm Alice. Nice to meet you"

"Don't worry, I'll help you. I'm Shun, by the way. Somebody go to the royal kiln with the king, where ever he is." Another guard ran down the path to the royal kiln. "Come on, I take you inside the palace first." Shun took Alice by her hand and ran to the courtyard.

Mira was pacing around the courtyard halls. _So the secret ingredient might be at Reijima. If __Keith__ gets it first __and__ have us offer it to __His Majesty__, then __he__ might get a promotion. I might even be the queen. But first, I need to see Shun._ Suddenly, Shun and Alice were at the courtyard. "Shun! There you are. I just-"

"Not right now. By the way, who's your cousin, Alice?"

"Alice, over here!" Marucho yelled from the stairs. "There are you are!"

_What?! Not only is she with Shun, but she also knows Marucho? _Mira thought. _There's more than just dancing that's going to happen here._


	3. Multiple Rejects

"That was horrible. I stepped into some clay and got my shoes dirty." Ace walked back to the palace, leaving a muddy trail behind. "Now, what happened to that girl? She said that was coming to the palace with her grandfather, but-" Ace looked forward and squinted. "Isn't that the girl that I saw earlier?"

"Yes, she is, Your Highness." a guard replied. "But what are Shun and Marukura-sama doing here?"

"I'm going to check it out!" Ace charged over to the trio, and Alice was the first to notice.

"Oh look! It's the royal adviser that I met earlier." Alice yelled. "How was the pottery? Did it pass? I only saw this place for a few minutes and already know how magnificent this is!" Shun and Marucho looked at her with surprise, but Ace came over and whispered something.

"Shun, Marucho, whenever I'm around her, do not call me by by anything that gives my identity as the king away, okay?" They nodded anyway, despite not understand why Ace said that. "Um, yes, most of them passed. For the king that is. The others were either too small or something, so they'll be admitted to other places. What's your name again?"

"Alice Gehabich. Nice to meet you. Thanks for tour around the royal kiln."

"Ace Grit, at your service." He knelt down, took Alice's left hand, and kissed it. "I hope you find your grandfather soon." Shun and Marucho were disgusted.

"You don't suppose that the king likes her." Marucho whispered to Shun.

"He had better not." was Shun's reply. "How do you know her?"

"She's my cousin, Shun. We have the same grandfather. I called them over."

"Fail. Look at the king. How would your grandfather feel?"

"Can I go now? I need to make some posters." Marucho left, but Mira, who saw everything, came over.

"May I talk to you for a while, Your-" Shun stepped in front of Mira, who had no idea what was going on.

"Excuse me, but I need to take Alice to see Marucho." Shun took Alice's hand and walked away.

"W-What's wrong, Shun?" Alice asked.

"Mira Clay. I don't like her. Neither will you. Stay away from her."

"Why? She doesn't seem that horrible. Look at her kimono."

"She's the king's maihime. I saved her from falling one time, and I regret it."

"But that's a good thing. Why do you hate her?"

"I don't hate her. I just don't like her. She hates you more."

"What do I have to do with this? I'm just a regular person."

"Would a regular person get kissed on the hand by a _rich _stranger that she happens to like?"

"That's kind of true." Shun suddenly stopped in front of a magnificent building. "Wow, is this Marucho's room? It's bigger than my entire cottage."

"Hello, Alice. I was just printing some posters on that new printing press. Have a seat." Marucho went away to pour tea for Alice and Shun. "Grandfather's here."

"Alice, there you are!" Dr. Gehabich and Alice hugged. "I thought I'd lose you forever! It's a good thing that I knew some of the palace roads and found my way here. Oh!" He looked at Shun. "Who are you?"

"Shun Kazami, palace guard. It's my honor to meet such an educated person."

"No need to be courteous. Marucho already told me that it was you who helped Alice find her way into the palace. Now Marucho, what did you want to say?"

"You see, the shooting stars that I _didn't_ see landed in Reijima, according to some calculations. That's probably where the secret ingredient for the elixir is located."

"Are you sure? Because I'm pretty sure that doesn't really make sense." Dr. Gehabich complained. "Are you sure this is for finding the ingredient, or just the shooting stars?"

"Actually, it's both." Marucho replied. "Grandfather, we have to know where the shooting are first before searching areas. The shooting stars will mark the area where the secret ingredient will be."

"So what's your plan?" Shun asked. Everyone gave Shun a weird look. "Okay, then. I'll stay out of this."

"If you want to leave, Shun, then it's your choice. Just don't tell anyone." Marucho replied. Shun left and saw Mira at the doorway.

"Mira, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with His Majesty?" he asked.

"Nothing. I just wanted to have a walk with you, that's all."

"Um, sure. How about in the palace halls? It's nice and quiet there."

"Just follow me." Mira replied. Shun, not knowing what was going on, followed Mira to where she went to.

"I was thinking about Reijima." Marucho told Alice and Dr. Gehabich. "I want to sail there with a team of people, but we really need somebody that knows about the skies, stars, and weather conditions there. Basic meteorology and astronomy. Grandfather, you're the most perfect person for that."

"Now, Marucho. I'm getting old. Do you really think that I'll be able to endure such a long journey? And what is it about the words on your poster?" Alice moved over to her grandfather. "Five hundred young men and women? You're not serious, are you?"

"Yes, I am, Grandfather. Alice, you'd be perfect for one of the young women. Please, Alice?!" Marucho begged. "You get to see your shooting stars."

"Shooting stars? I'm in! Make me the first person to be in the crew of five hundred people." Dr. Gehabich kept reading.

"Sacrifice for the Deity of Reijima? Marucho, you can't be serious! And I never heard of the Deity of Reijima."

"Actually, I have another reason why I need Alice." Marucho whispered something into her ear.

"My goodness! I don't know if I can do this." Alice worried. "I'm not great at acting, you know!" Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

"Marukura, how are the plans coming along?" It was Ace, and he saw Alice in the room. "Alice, there you are! What a coincidence! Would you like to have a walk with me?"

"Sure, I guess." Ace took Alice by the hand immediately and ran out. "We'll be right back."

"What just happened?" Dr. Gehabich asked. "How did the king-"

"Long story, Grandfather. Let me explain..."

**~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~**

"So you're saying that you want to be the future queen?" Shun asked. "That's not that easy."

"What makes you think that?" Mira replied. "I'd always use all sorts of tactics just to win his heart, but it never works. Now, I decided to give up. It's no use. He doesn't like me at all."

"So what are trying to tell me?"

"I saw everything. He gave his heart to that new girl that came here, whatever her name is."

"Maybe he's just being polite, that's all."

"I never seen him do that to any other girl?"

"Are you jealous?"

"That's none of your business."

"Then why are you telling me this anyway, Mira?"

"Because I love you."

"What?"

"Ever since you saved me, I've been in love with you. Not even His Majesty bothered to lend me a hand. He just dismissed me!"

"I'm sorry, but can you please show me some evidence? You could just be telling me this because you want to get him back." Shun couldn't stand hearing this anymore and went back to the courtyard.

"Shun, wait! I really mean it!" Mira yelled. _Does he like somebody else already? Who would it be? Why does a maihime like me have to endure this?_


	4. Truths and Lies

"So you really don't know what palace life is like?" Ace asked.

"Really, I don't know." Alice replied. "The first time I saw this place was when my cousin Marucho entered this place as a royal doctor. I didn't go inside, and that was the last time I saw him. Then came today, and Marucho wanted to see me and Grandfather for important things."

"Like what?"

_Alice, you can't tell this guy the truth. _"Like a person that was perfect to be the leader and navigator for the trip to Reijima. It was something about getting the secret ingredient for the king's elixir. I don't know."

"Then why do they need you?" _Do they know I love Alice already?_

"They were going to tell me until you took me out of the room."

"Oh, I'm so sorry. Please excuse me for interrupting. Interrupting you guys means interrupting me-" _Dang it! Please don't find out that I'm the king!_

"No worries. You're going to need information to tell the king anyway. Can we go back now? I'm hungry."

"Sure thing! I have the chefs cook the best food for you." Ace cheered. _Oh my God, I'm going to blow my cover again._ Suddenly, he saw Shun running down the hall with Mira running behind him.

"Please, Shun, just let me explain!" Mira yelled.

"Seriously, you're scaring me!" Shun ran faster and faster.

"Halt! Both of you!" Ace yelled. "How dare you run so loud in the king's quarters? What if he gets annoyed?"

_You __**are**__ annoyed. _"Excuse us for running, but-" Shun was going to answer but Ace moved closer to them.

"Mira, Shun, what is between the two of you?" Shun was going to answer when Mira interrupted.

"Your Majesty, Shun and I were friends since young." Mira lied. "I confessed, but he ran away from me." Shun was shocked. _Liar. You just want to get revenge._

"That's not true. Do you even know where my hometown is?" Shun wanted to say everything that he could to get Mira away from him.

"Well, if you two were friends since young, then I'll hold a magnificent wedding here on any lucky day you want. I'll go find Marukura." Ace replied. Shun was going to say more, but Alice ran away for some reason. "Alice, come back!" Ace ran after her.

"Your Majesty, wait!" Shun glared at Mira. "You want revenge? I want revenge, too." Shun walked down the path to where Marucho's room was.

_Everything is going smoothly,_ Mira thought. _I just need to tell __Keith__ about the trip to Reijima._

**~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~**

"You can't be serious? They want to go to Reijima?" Keith poured another cup of tea. "What's their plan?"

"Marucho was printing and writing some posters for something, but I don't know." Mira replied. "Some Dr. Gehabich and his granddaughter were there. Also, the king is in love with someone. Not me."

"Who would that be? Not many women around the palace are that pretty, you know." Keith drank more tea.

"It's that doctor or professor's granddaughter, Alice Gehabich. She doesn't even know Ace is the king. That disgusts me. She's only been here for less than a week and the king's head over heels about her already. Turns out that Marukura, Alice, and the doctor or professor are a family. One more thing."

"Reijima? We need to get there somehow before them. You still haven't told me what their plan is."

"Well, they want to bring five hundred young men and women as a sacrifice for the Deity of Reijima for the elixir ingredient. How lame. And, um, the king decided to hold a wedding ceremony for me and Shun."

"Five hundred people, Deity of Reijima, and Shun?!" Keith pounded his cup. "Mira, are you crazy? You're not supposed to let others steal the things that should belong to you. Find a way to get of Alice, now!"

"Keith! I'm sorry, but I can't obey you this time. Can't you see that the king doesn't even like me? I've decided to be with Shun."

"You useless sister! At least for a moment, I thought we were on a streak of victory, but you and Shun? I'd die than see your wedding. Now get out!"

"I'm really, sorry, Keith. But just remember that I'll always be your sister and on your side." Mira ran outside as Keith stressed over this mess.

**~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~**

"Tell me again why we're going to the sea cliffs this early in the morning?" Ace wasn't happy about this.

"Your Majesty, this is for your visit with the Deity of Reijima. Last night, I had a dream that the Deity would like to see you first before giving the elixir ingredient away. She said to meet you at the cliffs." Marucho replied. _Why the heck does Keith have to be here? I hope Alice doesn't fail. _"We're almost there. Just wait."

"Halt! Who goes there?" a voice yelled. Alice tried to sound as mature and serious as possible, but acting wasn't one of her talents.

"It is I, Ace Grit, the king of Aoumioka." Ace knelt down but Keith complained.

"Your Majesty, how could you kneel to somebody that you've never met or seen?" Keith yelled. "Who are you?"

_What? __**He**__**'**__**s**__ the king __and__ not a royal advis__e__r? _"Uh, Marukura and I agreed that this is where the king and I will have our discussion." Alice responded. "Marukura, have to talked to him about the price for this?"

"Yes, Deity-sama. I'm already gathering five hundred young men and women for this. Is there anything else you'll need?"

"Just a few questions. _Ace_, once you have the secret ingredient for the elixir of eternal life, are you going to save it for yourself or share it with others?"

"Actually, I was thinking about this." Ace looked at the Deity closely. "Deity-sama, why is it that you look very much like Alice?"

"I can take many forms, from the person you hate, person you respect, and person you _love._" Alice emphasized.

"Well, then. Keith, who do you see?" Ace asked.

"I really don't know who you look like. Never seen you before."

"Marukura?"

"For some reason, the Deity looks and sounds like my grandfather, even the accent."

"That was weird. Shun?"

"I don't see or hear anyone." Actually, Shun was surprised to see that Alice was the Deity. _Is it just me, or is this all an act? I'm seeing Alice. Can't tell this to__ the king, though._

"Well, then. Tell that young guard over there that he's not wise enough to see me yet." Alice had no idea what to say. She didn't realize that Shun was there because of the fog. "You have proven to be a wise person, Ace. Just remember that not everything is worth getting. Your job is to safely get to Reijima." Alice pointed to the island beyond the mist.

"Thank you so much, Dei-" Ace looked around, but no one was there. "I guess Deity-sama must have left. Let's go back. Shun, you're stupid."

_Say what?!_ "Yes, Your Majesty. I understand." Shun followed them and left. _I wonder where Alice went._

Back at the palace, Alice and her grandfather were in Marucho's room as he and Shun came in. "Great job acting, Alice. Now you can be in the group of young men and women sacrificed for the Deity."

"Marucho, none of this makes any sense. This would be like lying to the king." Dr. Gehabich complained.

"Okay, I'll tell you what's really going on. Gather around."


	5. Different Aspects

"You _still_ want to be a part of the five hundred young men and women? You heard what your cousin said. It's only a fake plan to escape from the palace." Shun had no idea why he's overreacting, but the truth was just unbelievable.

"It's my choice." Alice said as she adjusted the collar on her kimono. "Is this okay? I think the collar doesn't look so good. Also, this mark is itchy!" Alice rolled the left sleeve up to show a pressed on symbol. "Do I have to wear this? It's ugly and very obvious. Remove it for me."

Shun took a look at the mark. _Symbol of prudence __and__ chastity. I can't remove __tha__t! _"Sorry, but you have bear with it. Ask somebody else to remove it." They arrived at the room where the young women gathered. "Bye Alice. Good luck." Shun went back to where Dan was.

"Bye Shun! You too!" Alice went inside and found her bamboo slip and seat. As everybody sat down, Marucho entered.

"Everyone, I'm sure you've had enough time to meet each other. We'll the day by washing clothes. A lot of our guards and courtesans have a lot of their dirty and sweaty clothes at the washing grounds. I hope you all can endure foul smells. This is how you'll be serving the Deity of Reijima." Everyone stood up and exited the room to where all the dirty laundry was. Every girl started working.

"What a beautiful day." Ace was out on his daily morning walk. "Keith, what do you think?"

"Yes, it's a beautiful day." Keith replied. Then he looked at the girls. _That girl looks so familiar._ "Your Majesty, does that girl look familiar to you?"

"Oh my God, it's Alice! What is she doing here?" Ace ran down the stairs and through the "forest" of sheets and clothes. "Alice? Alice Gehabich? Come out where ever you are." The other girls were confused. _So that's why the Deity looked like Alice, _Keith thought. _I absolutely hate her. _Ace was literally playing hide-and-seek with Alice, only Alice didn't officially start it. "I know you're here. I heard your voice."

"What is the king doing?" Shun came over all of a sudden. He looked at Keith, who had foul expression.

"I don't know why Mira would want to marry such a low palace guard like you." Keith criticized. "Your Majesty, we need to go now."

**~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~**

"Now begins our official manners less-" Marucho was interrupted by somebody entering the room. "Your Majesty! What brings you to our daily lesson?"

"Oh, nothing." Ace was looking around the room. "Just spectating to make sure they learn the lesson right. Remember to treat the Deity of Reijima better than how you treat me." A loud "Yes!" echoed in the room.

_Can't let the king see Alice. _"Everyone, the very first lesson of respect is to put your head down when talking to the Deity. Heads down!" Marucho ordered. _I hope Alice won't __be __seen._

"Lame! Do something new and fresh. I'm tired of seeing heads down every day."

"Yes, Heika. Next lesson! Cover your faces when near the Deity. First appearances are very important, so you can't ruin it. Hands over faces!" Marucho ordered. _Please don't complain!_

"What kind of lessons are these? Marukura, do you have anything better than this?"

"Your Majesty, there you are!" Shun arrived suddenly. _Thank you so much, Shun__,_ Marucho thought. "We wanted you to come over to check on the terra cotta army progress, that's all." Ace criticized Marucho one last time before leaving.

After they finished checking on the royal kiln, Ace asked Shun a question. "Shun, what should I do to _love_ someone?"

"Um, I, uh, I really don't know, Your Majesty." _Why the heck are you asking me this?_

"But aren't you and Mira-"

"Please, there is nothing between her and me. I didn't even know her until the day she tripped while dancing."

"Just admit it, Shun. You l-"

"Why don't we talk about _your_ question? Why are you asking this again?"

"Since you're my most trusted person, I'm going to tell this to you. You know Alice, the girl that I met the other day?" Shun nodded, unsure of what Ace had to say. "Well, she's the first person that doesn't treat me like a king, more like a close friend. It's touched my heart ever since."

"I think you should wait and find out how she feels." For some reason, Shun felt very uneasy about this, but doesn't know why.

"Even better! I'll confess to her right now! Speaking of confess, do you have a date for your and Mira's wedding?"

"Actually, I was thinking of having my grandfather come back first. He doesn't know about any of this."

"Oh, yes. Guess it won't be soon yet, huh? Family should always come first. Good luck." Ace went back to the palace immediately.

"Why couldn't I do anything to stop him? You know the king and his pride isn't suitable for Alice and her naivety?" Shun scolded himself.

"I assume you have feelings for Alice, too." Mira appeared out of nowhere. "You dare fight over a girl with the king?"

"Mira, what do you want?"

"I already know that you stalled the wedding by saying that your grandfather isn't back. At the same time, you love the woman the king loves, too. Why does it always have to be Alice? First she steals the king, and now you, too. Both in which I loved first."

"So what do you want? Besides, you can't force someone to love you."

"Just because I'm a maihime? If you stall the wedding any longer, I'll tell the king that you love Alice and exaggerate it. Not only that, I'll hurt Alice, too."

"No, Mira. Please don't!" Shun was surprised at what he was doing. "Just wait until my grandfather comes back, please."

"So you're begging me? Don't worry. I won't make your life tough. As long as you marry me, I promise _never _to hurt her. You have to keep your promise, too."

"I promise." Shun sighed. _What do I do now?_

**~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~**

"What do you want to see me for, Your Majesty?" Alice felt very uncomfortable talking to Ace.

"Now that you know that I'm the king of Aoumioka and not a royal adviser, I think I should tell everything."

"Like what?"

"Alice Gehabich, please be my queen!" That was very direct and unexpected, and Alice didn't know what to say.

_I__ can't be the queen, no matter what._ "Why? I'm pretty satisfied with how I'm living right now."

"Then if you be the queen, you'll be the second most satisfied person in the world. The first is me. No more doing chores, eating the best food every day, anything! How does that sound."

"That may be satisfying _for you,_ but for me, I just want to live a peaceful life with the person that truly loves me, that's all. I don't demand for anything."

"But I really love you. You're the first person that treated me like a regular person. Even my mother didn't treat me like that."

"Your Majesty, can I ask you something? What's more important, me or your eternal life elixir?"

"I, um, uh-"

"See? If you have to hesitate about it, then I'm not very important in your life. I really need to go now. Good bye." Alice ran down the path away from the willow trees and saw Mira. "What are-"

"May I talk to you?"


	6. Emotional Impacts

"Do you really dare reject the king?" Mira asked.

"I'm not rejecting. I'm explaining why this won't work." Alice replied.

"I really think that you should accept his offer. It'll do you a lot of good."

"Why? Why are you helping me? We barely know each other."

"I'm not helping you. I'm just helping myself."

"What does that mean? I thought you liked the king?"

"Things change, dear. You have probably never seen the outside world before, so here's a tip. As long as it's good for you, do it."

"What will you get out of this?"

"Shun Kazami's_ heart_." Mira emphasized.

"Shun? Since when did you have feelings for you? He doesn't like you."

"Oh, that was just to make you not jealous. If you go with the king, then he goes with me. Not matter what happens, he'll be seeing his beloved girl in another person's hands. Just wait for the wedding." Mira laughed and left. _His beloved girl in another person's hands? She couldn't have meant me, could she? I need to talk to him._

That day during lessons, Alice didn't pay attention as much. "Alice Gehabich, please do an example of how you should serve food to the Deity of Reijima." Marucho yelled.

"Yes, sir!" Alice stood up, took a board as a makeshift tray, and served it. Because she wasn't paying attention, Alice did everything wrong. "Oh no!"

"Alice, please go back to seat and pay attention next time." Marucho exclaimed. _Alice, what is wrong with you today?_

"Excuse me, but may I take Alice Gehabich out of lesson today?" Everyone looked up and saw Ace at the door. "Well? Do you dare disobey-?"

"Uh, you may, Your Majesty." Marucho had no idea what to do. _This is madness._ "Everyone, continue class. Alice, please exit." Alice had no choice but to leave the room with Ace.

"Your new room will be inside the inner palace and not with the girls now." Ace told her. "Also, you won't have to go to those lessons anymore. You'll be with me every day." Alice was shocked, but there was nothing she could do. Ace already had people move her thing out of her original room into the new room.

"Yes, Heika." was Alice's only reply and final words.

From that moment on, Alice stayed as quiet as a mouse, and her hyper self was gone forever. She sat at the small gazebo staring into nowhere. It had been days now, and the king finally got tired of it.

"Alice, try these plates of food." Ace said. Alice made no respond. "Okay then. How about these?" He told the guards to change the food, but she stayed silent. "Not your taste? Try these." The plates were changed again, but Alice still didn't budge. "Alice, just because you're staying silent and not eating doesn't mean I'm giving up on you. If you don't eat, then these chefs will have their lives taken." Ace took a sword out and put in front of the chefs' necks.

"Alice-san, please save us!" they yelled. Ace was going to pull his sword when Alice looked up. She took the chopsticks and started eating, and Ace dropped his sword. "Thank you so much, Alice-san!" then thanked.

Life wasn't getting any better for Shun, either. His grandfather was coming back in two weeks, around the same time that Marucho was leaving. "Mira Clay, I'll get you back somehow."

"What's wrong, buddy?" Dan asked.

"This girl forced me to marry her or she'll tell the king about it."

"Isn't that a good thing? Like, you're getting married already."

"But I don't! I-"

"Oh, so you like somebody? Sorry, dude, but that 'joke' of yours isn't going to work. I can tell that you really like someone now."

"Too bad somebody superior than me laid his eyes on her already."

Mira, on the other hand, was getting more and more information about the trip to Reijima and feeding her brother the information. "It turns out to be fake, Keith. They just want to escape the palace."

"I knew it! That Deity of Reijima was a phony. No wonder the king and I saw the Deity as the same person. As for Marukura and Shun, they're on the same side, no doubt about it." Keith replied.

"Turns out that Shun likes Alice, who also happens to be who the king likes. What now?"

"Find a way to get rid of them both, not to mention Marukura and that other professor. That way, the king will be yours. By the way, I'm sorry for yelling at you the other day. I guess that you want your own freedom, right? You'll always be my little sister."

"You could say that, but I'll always be on your side."

**~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~**

That night, Marucho called Dr. Gehabich over to his room. "Listen, we need to find a way to get Alice out of the inner palace, but how?"

"It's not that easy getting in there, not even for you." Grandfather replied.

"I know how to." Mira appeared at the door.

"Aren't you the king's maihime? Why would you-"

"I prefer to be called Mira. The only way to get her out is to have her dead."

"You are not killing my granddaughter!"

"Relax. I didn't mean for her to really die. Just fake it, that's all." _If you can fake this trip, then you can fake her death._

"Wait, Grandfather. We can do that. There's this medicine that makes your pulse and breathing very slow and soft as if you're dead. Let me get it." Marucho soon back with a small jar. "Now, who's going to give it to her?" He looked at Mira. "Please not be you."

"What other option do you have?" She stuck her hand out. "I'll take that." She snatched out of Marucho's hand. "Just wait of the news. I don't even know if it's good or bad." Mira left the room with her furisode dragging.

"I don't see her tripping on those sleeves of hers. Can we really trust her?"

"I'm sure she's going to do what she thinks is best."

**~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~**

"Why, Alice? Why do you have to go?" Ace cried as he witness a lifeless and still Alice. "Her face looks so..._ugly_!"

Marucho shook his head. "It's no use. She's has no pulse." He pretended to cry. "Come on, Grandfather. Cry already." he whispered. They pretended to cry as they carried the body out of the room.

"Hold it." Mira was there. "Even if she's dead, she shouldn't look like that after devouring that poison." Marucho pulled her over.

"So you're saying that you secret added some poison in there? I'm glad that our entire family is _this_ smart. We'll talk to you later.

"We might as well bury her." Dr. Gehabich cried. He covered Alice's face with a white cloth. "We should take her home." They carried her body all the way back to the cottage back in the forests.

"Whew! I'm glad that we went passed that. What were you talking to Mira about?"

"Let's just say that she added some poison into that jar afterwards. Anyway, to be perfectly sure that everything thinks Alice is dead, we need to send her onto that trip as soon as possible." Suddenly, a shooting star collided in the sky and hit a place. "Hey! That looks like my medicine room that the shooting star hit!"

"Eh, before we go, can I go get that piece of shooting star that landed in your room in the palace?" Alice asked. She got up from the wooden stretcher and got out.

"Alice! You're alive!" Dr. Gehabich hugged her. "Of course you can. Just be safe. At this time, people should be asleep, but who knows?"

"I will. Bye Marucho! Bye Grandfather!"


	7. Burning Love

Alice sneaked into the room where the original eternal life elixirs were made. "Come on, shooting star. Where are you? You fell here fair and square." She close the door quietly without making a squeak. Alice looked around the entire room and saw the roof. "What a beautiful night sky..."

Outside of the room was Shun, who was about to go home after he finished patrolling one last time. _The medicine room's been open, but neither Marucho nor __Dr. Gehabich__ are here._ He walked in to see that everything was neat, except for a moving figure. "Alice?"

"Shun!" Alice called. "Shouldn't you be preparing for wedding with your maihime?"

"No, I shouldn't." He ran over and gave Alice a really tight hug. "I thought you were dead. I was really worried." He eyed her carefully. "What are you doing here? People will know that you're here."

"Not if you keep the secret for me." Alice put a finger over her mouth. "If my secret is really going to stay safe, then I have to leave with it on the day of departure. I wanted to get away from everything, away from the king, away from Mira, and even away from you. I don't know how I got mixed up into palace life, and I regret everything except one thing. Meeting you."

"I know how you feel." Shun replied. "I wish I could come along, too, but as the king's most trusted person, I can't. I might as well stay at his side as the price of stealing his loved one."

_Mira was right all along, but I refused to believe it. _"Some things are impossible, Shun. Would you rather have eternal life yet be lonely forever, so be with the person you truly love and enjoy happiness every day until death?"

"I...I..." Shun never thought of this before and was having a hard time answering.

"If you come, then you want to be with me forever, but if you don't, then you don't."

"I'm sorry, Alice, but I have to stay." Shun looked at Alice's arm. "Do you still want me to remove the mark?"

"Do you want to, or is this just to apologize for not coming with me?"

Shun started untying Alice's sash. "As long as I can do it, I'll do anything."

After a while, Alice put her kimono back on and lifted her sleeve up to see a fading mark. "Thank you, Shun."

"You're welcome, Alice." Shun heard the door rattling. "There's someone nearby."

"I think that's Marucho." Alice rolled her sleeve down. "You go hide. I'll go talk to him."

**~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~**

The young men and women, with their face covered in veils, boarded the ships. Soldiers and guards, including Shun, patrolled the docks to make sure nobody escaped. He saw Alice, who lifted her veil for a moment, one last time before she boarded. "Everyone, this way!" Marucho directed. _Where's Alice? _"Alice! I need to talk to you."

"What happened, Marucho?" Alice lifted her veil to see a very worried and upset Marucho. "You don't look well."

When the last girl boarded, Marucho took Alice to a room at the top of the ship. "Okay, Alice. Don't freak out, but when I left the cottage to find you, something must've happened at the cottage. When I came back, Grandfather was on the ground with a lot of bruises and blood. I tried to cure him, but he lost too much blood already." Marucho had real tears in my eyes.

"What?! How come you didn't tell me earlier? Grandfather's dead, Marucho. What other close relative do I have?" Alice wanted to get out of the room, but Marucho stopped her.

"Alice, you still have your younger cousin. Besides, I'm sure Grandfather would want you to go on the trip, too, to get away from-"

"Who did it? Who killed Grandfather?!" Marucho had no choice but to hit Alice around her nape, and she finally calmed down.

"I'm sorry, Alice, but just stay on the ship." Marucho left the room to check on the others. _No. This can't be happening. I need to go back._ Alice popped the window open and jumped out into the sea. Marucho came right back after hearing the splash. "Alice, no!"

The guards were able to rescue her and helped her spit some swallowed water out. Shun ran over in panic. "Alice! Are you okay?"

"I've already lost my Grandfather, and Marucho's going on the trip. I can't lose you, too." Alice coughed. Shun put her head by his side.

"Don't worry. I'm still here." Suddenly, Keith came over in anger.

"A stowaway! We'll see how the king will deal with that." Seeing what Shun and Alice were doing, he yelled again. "What are you doing? Kazami, take her away!"

Shun held Alice even closer to him. "No way."

**~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~**

"I am truly blind." Ace scolded himself. "How could I not know about the things that were happening between you two? I am blind! Shun Kazami, what do you have to say for yourself?"

"All I want to be with Alice, that's all. If I'm going to be killed for it, then I think it's worth it."

"This is madness!" Ace slammed the table. "How about you, Alice? What do you have to say for _faking your death?_" A loud gasp was in the entire court.

"Your Majesty, you forced me to." A louder gasp was in the entire court. "Do you know dangerous it is for me to be loved by the king? That means that some maihime like Mira will be planning some plot against me." She glared at Mira, who sat next to her brother. "You know darn well that the medicine you gave me had poison in it. If I was the queen, I'll never be satisfied."

"Shut up! You to want to live and die together, forget it!" Ace slammed the table again. "Take them away and behead them." Shun was taken first, and Alice reached for him. A guard tried to pry Alice's hand away, but slipped and pulled her sleeve. Everyone saw that the symbol of prudence and chastity was missing.

"Where's the mark? Huh?" Alice pulled her sleeve and remained silent. "You bastards! Doing such dirty things behind my back. Keith, spread the order that Shun Kazami will be baked into a terra cotta soldier _alive _to protect my mausoleum forever." Shun was shocked. He looked at Alice, whose eyes began to tear.

"Sorry..." He remembered the first time he met and apologized to Alice, but never thought he'd be apologizing to her for something like this.

"What about Alice?" Keith asked.

"Pulled to death by carriages and show her corpse off to public."

**~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~**

At the royal kiln, Alice, dressed in a red wedding kimono, witnessed Shun being wrapped with pieces of cloth. Keith and Mira were also there. The workers wrapped form the bottom up, so Alice could still see Shun's eyes. At a time like this, Alice wanted to say a lot of things, but was too impacted to speak. Shun had a lot of say, too, but he also stayed silent.

Soon, the cloth wrapped around his face, and the two couldn't see each other anymore. When Shun was totally applied with terra cotta, the workers put him into the royal kiln. Everyone began heading back to the palace. Alice refused to go back and ran into the kiln while it was burning hot.

"Shun! I'll always be with you not matter what!" People thought she was crazy. "Not even the hottest fire can burn away our love!" All of a sudden, a shooting star fell out of nowhere and hit straight for the kiln. Later, all that was left was a perfectly finished terra cotta soldier and flying pieces of red fabric everywhere. Even Keith and Mira felt sorry for them.


	8. Into the Future

Modern Times

**~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~**

"So you're certain that this is where the shooting stars are located." Mira asked her brother. "The one that nearly destroyed the royal kiln, according to history?" She tried to interpret Keith's notes, but it was just too complicated.

"You have no idea how valuable this shooting star is, Mira." Keith explained. "Inside and outside."

"What does that mean?"

"There's more to this shooting star than what people say, you know. Ever since it hit the royal kiln, people decided to leave it alone because of some important meaning, aside from that fact that it contains rare metals. I need to know what that secret is."

"Don't worry, Keith. I'm pretty sure that a devotee like Shun wouldn't want to miss out on this." Some crying sounds were heard. "Sorry. Looks like Jasper's crying again. Bye!"

**~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~**

At the museum, Shun observed the process of transferring important artifacts from one place to another. "Isn't that very delicate? Better take notes." He scribbled something onto his notepad when Mira came.

"Shun! Sorry to have you waiting!" She gave Shun a big hug. "So, what are we doing?"

"Dang it, Mira. You almost knocked me over the railing." Shun brushed himself off, which sort of disappointed Mira. "Anyways, what are you doing here?"

"Looking for you, that's all." she smiled. Mira looked at Shun's notes. "How's your training coming along? Did you pass yet?"

"Go ahead and annoy me, and I'll fail every single test. Besides, the last part is partner work with another trainee. She should be here right about-"

"Excuse me? Are you Shun Kazami?" A girl ran up the stairs next to him. "I'm Alice Gehabich."

"Yeah, I'm Shun. You must be my partner for the final part of the training." He looked at Mira. "Sorry, Mira. I have to go. See you!" Mira was just going to leave when saw Ace, her ex-boyfriend.

"Mira, what the heck are you doing here?" Ace wasn't happy.

"Just hanging out here with my _boyfriend._" Mira emphasized. "What do you want?"

"You know this guy doesn't suit you. I don't get why I'm worrying in the first place. You said to break with me."

"I don't even want to talk to you." Mira walked down the hall.

**~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~**

"Really?" Shun asked. "Didn't realize that we're both twenty-five."

"How about self intro?" Alice offered. "I'm also one of the trainees here at this museum. Graduated from Ehime Prefecture College, but wanted to work here in Hokkaido. You?"

"I graduated at Hokkaido University. Couple of my relatives are archaeologists who work around here. I guess I inherited their love for the ancient times. What's our first task?"

"Let's see." Alice looked at her objectives. " 'Observe how archaeologists carefully clean a specimen.' That sounds okay. Come on." They ran down the hall to the New Artifacts room and observed. "Look at how carefully they clean this stuff."

"Those brushed aren't ordinary brushes." Shun pointed out. "The bristles are super fine, so they don't scratch the artifact."

"I'm glad that you know that." a worker replied. "Especially since these new artifacts are getting more fragile. You know how time passes. Are you two trainees?"

"Yes, we are. I'm Shun, and this is Alice." Shun replied. "We're partnered up for the last round of training. Our first task is to observe how artifacts are cleaned."

"Nice meeting you two. I'm Runo, and this is Baron. We're just assistants, but we actually know how this works like pros. Watch and learn." Runo changed her dirty gloves for a new pair, took another artifact, and began dusting it. "You have to make sure that while you clean off the dirt on an artifact, you don't soil it with the dirt of another artifact. That's going to mass up the dating."

"So, no cross-contaminating..." Alice wrote. Shun suddenly laughed. "What's wrong? Shouldn't you be taking notes?"

"Cross-contaminating? That's food, Alice. Although it does make sense to stay safe and clean." Shun took notes, too. Alice laughed as well. Baron came over with some reports.

"Runo-san, the carbon dating results are finished." Baron handed some papers to Runo, who looked at them very thoroughly. "Baron, I don't get this. 'Unable to detect proper time era.' And why are you using carbon dating on an inanimate object?"

"Sorry, Runo-san. The machine detected carbon, but due to other reasons, it can't detect the proper time era."

"Oh well. Sorry that we couldn't have a nice chat." Runo took a pen out. "I might as well sign your task papers to show that you're here." Runo signed her name in kanji on their papers. "Good luck on your next task."

"Thanks, Runo-san. See you next time!" Alice waved.

"Hold on." Shun stopped. "Baron, what exactly did you put into the carbon dating machine?"

"Um, a semi-shiny piece of rock. My mini carbon detecting gadget said there was carbon in it. Why?"

"Just asking. It does sound kind of weird that an inanimate object has a lot of carbon in it. See you next time." Shun and Alice left the New Artifacts room.

"The only inanimate objects I can think of that have carbon are diamonds and charcoal." Alice said. "Diamonds are shiny."

"Nope, it's not a diamond." Shun replied. "I don't know why, but there's something different about this 'rock.' The only reason why the time era of something can't be detected is because something is interfering with the carbon. I just don't know what."

"Maybe there's more than just carbon in there." Alice suggested. "Sometimes, the less amount of carbon in an object, the less accurate the age of the object is. Does that make sense?"

"Kind of. Maybe the carbon is reacting with something? Maybe." Shun realized that he was talking too professionally to a person that he just met. "Sorry if you don't understand what I'm saying. You see, I'm really into this subject."

"I don't mind. I was just wondering, do you mind if we work on this together? About the weird rock? Maybe we could get credit for this when we finish out training."

"Why didn't I think of that? Thanks Alice! For some reason, even though we met for the first time, I feel like that we know each other already." Alice just smiled back.

Mira, who was listening on what they said from the stairs, heard everything. _A shiny piece of rock that has an uncertain time period. Interesting. I wonder if that's what __Keith__ is looking for._


	9. Anger Issues

Couple days have passed, yet Shun and Alice were getting nowhere with the information they had. So they decided to move on with their training tasks, in which they were almost halfway done.

"I still want to go back to the New Artifacts room to take a look." Shun suggested. "What do you think?"

"Shun, it's been a few days. I'm sure Baron and Runo wouldn't want to keep something that long." Alice replied. "We should ask them where they put it away."

"Great idea. Come-" Shun suddenly saw Ace behind Alice. _What now?_ Shun didn't like the looks of this. "Ace, what are you doing here?"

"I thought you should be hanging out with your _girlfriend._" Ace emphasized. Shun was going to talk, but Alice spoke up.

"Ace, just because I didn't pick you for the worldwide National Geographic history competition and actually beat you at it doesn't mean I don't appreciate you." Shun was confused.

"Okay, not regarding what she said, but Alice and I are just working together for the last part of training. Besides, stop putting hate on me." Shun took Alice by the hand and went to find Runo and Baron.

_Shun __and__ Alice? Nah. _Ace thought. He followed the two of them into the New Artifacts room to see if there's anything interesting.

"Hi Shun. Hi Alice. Sorry that it's just me here, but Runo-san has a meeting. What's up?" Baron cleared the table to get ready for the next artifact.

"Can we see that shiny piece of rock that you carbon-dated the other day?" Shun asked.

"Oh, _that_ rock?" Baron thought for a moment. "Go look for it in the Jewels and Gems exhibits. Runo did the categorizing, and that's where it ended up." Alice thanked Baron and went to the Jewels and Gems exhibits with Shun.

"So many jewels." Alice complimented. "How are they organized? I've never been here before."

"Time era, ABC order, color coding, and similarities. This is second favorite exhibit." Shun pointed to a few placards on some glass cases. "Some of the placards need to be updated because there's not enough information, or new information was found. It's also one of our training tasks." He took his papers out. " 'Search for any new information on the following exhibits:' Sheesh, this is a long list."

"What's your first favorite exhibit then?" Alice asked. "Seeing that there's an exhibit like this, then there's a lot of stuff that I must've miss out on."

Shun looked further into his list of tasks. "Well, seeing that it has a little bit to do with our tasks, I'll take you there."

_Shun Kazami, you flirted with Mira enough for her to break up with me, __and__ now you're flirting with Alice? You're the one that's putting hate on me._ Ace followed them until he bumped into Mira. "Mira?! What a-"

"Are you spying on them to see if they do anything wrong and tell me about it so I can come back to your side? I'm not that stupid." Mira almost stepped in front of Ace's face. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm the one that should be doing the following."

**~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~**

"Your first favorite exhibit is a newly built one?" Alice asked. "Looks very neat."

"Not to be bragging, but I helped build some of this, the construction and information." Shun took her inside to have a look. "This is one of the few museum exhibits that's reserved for a specific topic. Read the title."

"If it's the truth, then you're not bragging." Alice replied. " 'Terra Cotta Army of Aoumioka.' Aoumioka?"

"I worked really hard on this topic. Aoumioka was the name of an empire that once existed around Hokkaido. We found a lot of terra cotta soldiers in a royal mausoleum. I actually helped out with the excavation when I was still in college. This took like years to complete."

"Really? At Ehime, they don't let you do that until you have a bachelor's degree." Alice suddenly laid her eyes on one exhibit. "Why does that terra cotta soldier looks so different?" Shun walked over to see it.

"You mean this one? Yeah, it's pretty different." Shun took out a pen and was going to scratch something off.

"Shun, you're going to-" Too late. Shun managed to scratch out a piece of red stuff that was on the soldier. "What is it?"

"Looks like red dust." Shun had to put even the smallest things into a plastic baggy. "I want to take to the lab to see what this is. Can't believe I didn't notice this earlier." Shun and Alice left the exhibit to the laboratories.

_So they're going to the lab, huh? _Mira thought. _Better follow them._

"They're not getting away this easily." Ace was right next to her, who yelled out loud. "For heaven's sake, Mira. Aren't you going to get your _boyfriend_ back?"

"So you're saying that you like Alice?" Mira questioned. "I'm only doing this for my own good, so if you want to help, then don't get in my way."

"Thanks, Mira. I miss the old days." Mira was disgusted by Ace's reply.

Few minutes later, after Shun and Alice delivered the "specimen" to the lab, they continued working on their tasks. "I hope these textbooks are enough for every first-year trainee to use. The Internet has even more information." Alice noted.

"I'm pretty sure we're just looking up information, not book organizing. We-" Shun's cell phone rang. "Sorry. Hello? Yes, this is Kazami...Really? All done? Oh my gosh, thank you so much!" He hung up. "Alice, the lab results are ready."

"That fast? Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Alice suddenly realized that she was really into this topic, while Shun just smiled back.

At the labs, the lab assistant was there, but he didn't seem to realize that Shun and Alice were here. "Excuse me? Were you the one that called me to pick up the results?"

"Excuse me? I thought you picked the results up already." he replied suspiciously. "Can I see some ID?" Shun handed him his ID, and the lab assistant gasped. "Oh my God, I gave it to the wrong person."

"What did he look like?" Alice asked.

"He had short, choppy, mint-green hair and-"

"Thanks a lot! We know what to do!" Shun took Alice and ran out of the labs.

"It's Ace, isn't it?" Alice asked. "He'll do anything to get revenge."

"Only this time, it's gone overboard." Shun stopped for a moment and saw Ace looking at the lab results. "Hello, poker face." Ace looked up to see Shun and Alice. "I knew it had to be you. You're the only one that knows how to mock other people's voices." Alice gasped.

"So you found out? What good is it anyway? If you want these results, then you have to get them from me."

"I can always go back to the lab to get another copy."

"Sorry, but I told the lab assistant to delete the files. Now you'll have to get them from me and only me."

"Ace, stop hogging the files. Give them back." Mira appeared out of nowhere.

"Mira!" Shun and Alice exclaimed in surprise.

"Give them back? Who's side are you on?" Ace asked.

"Cut it with the crap. Just give them back." Seeing that he couldn't do anything, Ace threw the papers in Shun's face.

"Thanks, Mira. I didn't know what to do without you."

"Under one condition."

"What?"

"Don't ever talk to Alice again."


	10. Reconciled

"Mira, you're crazy." Shun yelled back. "Alice and I are par-"

"Then I'll report to your trainers that you're not focusing on your work, playing around, and _flirting._" Mira replied. Shun looked at Alice.

"It's okay, I can always get another partner on the training. Bye Shun." Alice walked away without another word.

"Alice, wait!" Shun yelled. He glared at Mira and walked away.

"Shun, wait! Where are you going?" She pulled him by his arm.

"Let go of me!" Shun pried his arm away. "If you don't want to talk to Alice ever again, then I might as well never talk to you, too."

"Shun! You'd actually choose your training partner over your girlfriend? Huh?!" Shun didn't care to respond. "Jerk!" Mira walked upstairs in steaming anger.

Ace saw everything and ran after Alice. "Alice, what happened? Did you break up with Shun?" Alice stopped and glared.

"What makes you think _that?_" Alice emphasized. "This is your entire fault!"

"Me? How is it my fault? I just want to get you, that's al-" Alice couldn't help but push Ace away. "Alice...you _pushed _me."

"Yeah, so? So what? You're nothing to me. You're just a useless person that only makes others upset and increase their burden. You not only messed up my training, but you messed up Shun's training, too. No wonder Mira broke up with you." Alice kept walking down the hall.

"But Alice, can't you just-" Alice was too far away to hear him. "Shun Kazami, what is it about you that Alice likes and appreciate?

Shun sat at a cafe table, drinking a cup of ginseng tea. "Hey man! What's up?" It was Jake. "Long time no see. I didn't know you worked here."

"Long time no see, Jake. I'm only a trainee here. Training was almost complete when...forget it." Shun eyed Jake's uniform. "What are you wearing?"

"Construction uniform. Just came back from an excavation trip in Sapporo. Boy, was it tiring. You should've seen the artifact we excavated. Runo and Baron will be super tired." Jake took a napkin and wiped his forehead.

"Hold on. Jake, do all the artifacts that you guys excavate go directly to Runo and Baron first when they get into the museum?"

"Yeah, that's where all new artifacts arrive at. Why?"

"Baron said that he found a shiny rock that had some carbon in it, but the carbon dating results said that the time era was uncertain."

"Maybe it's pyrite. Fool's gold, you know."

"Not pyrite. Baron's gloves has no green steaks."

"Let me think...I think I know what it is and where it came from."

"What is it then?"

"We found it on an island in the east. A whole bunch of them. There were more of it at the mausoleum."

"The Aoumioka mausoleum?"

"Yup. They looked almost alike. At first, I thought-"

"Thanks, Jake!" Shun finished his tea. "I'll treat you lunch next time. Bye!" Shun dialed Alice's number, but stopped. Will she even talk to me? He pressed CALL and waited.

"Hello?" Alice answered. Her voice was neutral.

"Alice, it's me, Shun. Can I talk to you for a few minutes?"

"What do you want?"

"I think I know what that shiny rock is. I need your help."

"Look, Shun. I'm going to ask my trainer to change my partner."

"Then hand the phone over to him and have me talk."

Alice didn't respond for a while. "Go ahead. Tell me."

"First of all, I'm not going to talk about Mira and Ace. I was talking to a friend of mine who came back from an excavation trip. He said that he knows what the rock is."

"He does? Then what do you want me to do? What about the lab results?"

"That, I'll look into later. Can you ask Baron or Runo to open up the exhibit where the rock is and have the lab people examine it?"

"Okay, I will. Where are you going?"

"Meet me at the lobby when you get the results. Sayonara."

"Sure, Shun. Bye!" Maybe my training won't get ruined. Alice walked back to the new artifacts room to find Baron. "Baron? Is Runo here?"

"Runo is still at that lame meeting." Baron was dusting an artifact. "You could always talk to me."

"Remember the shiny rock you had? Can you take it out of the exhibit and bring it to the lab for examination?"

"Sure, Alice, but why?" Baron was getting a chain of keys out and locked the door from the outside after they walked outside.

"One of my friends said that he knows what the rock is, but needs lab examination to prove it."

"Just that? Okay then." They arrived at the Jewels and Gems exhibits. Baron found the correct glass case. "I'll take this to the lab but putting this under your name, okay?" Alice nodded as Baron went to the labs.

Later, Alice got the results and was talking to Shun over the phone. "I don't really get what this says, but if you can find out, then I'm surprised."

"Don't worry. I won't have you do it for nothing. Eh, I see you!" Shun hung up. "Alice! Over here!"

Alice hung up, too. "Hi Shun. Here's the lab results." Alice handed the files in her hand to Shun.

"You're not mad at me anymore?"

"Nah. Let's just say that Mira is a very threatening person. Education comes first."

"Thanks for trusting me. Come on, let's go over to the chairs and talk." They sat at the chairs and took the files out. "Here's the file on the red thing. Lab results say that this is fabric. There's also slight traces of rare metals. You?"

Alice opened the file and read it. "This rock has some rare metals in it." Shun and Alice stared at each other. "Rare metals..." They exchanged papers and read it.

"Alice, the traces of rare metals in the fabric are the exact same ones in the rock!" Shun exclaimed. They high-fived each other, and all of the sudden, Shun gave Alice a really hug. "Thanks Alice!" Shun realized what he was doing and pulled back. "Oh my God, I'm so sorry. Hope you don't-"

"I don't mind at all." Alice smiled. "It's my pleasure meeting you, Shun. I'm sure we can solve this together." Alice took out her papers. "What's our next task?"

From behind a plant, Mira saw everything. You two will pay for this. "Keith, did you hear everything?" Mira was whispering through a small listening device.

"Loud and clear, Mira. I heard everything, from red fabric to rare metals." Keith replied. "You did a great job, Mira. I'm very proud of you. If only my nephew didn't exist."

"Thanks, Keith. I don't know how to apologize about your nephew, but just bear with it." Mira turned the device off and sighed.


	11. Truth Among the Stars

"We need to talk to our trainer, now." Shun walked down the hall to the Terra Cotta exhibit. "But first, I want to have a look at that terra cotta soldier again." They walked inside the exhibit and observed the soldier.

"Shun, look at the back." Alice pointed out. "It got deformed here."

"Deformed? But how? Based on our knowledge of how terra cotta armies were baked, the only way that you could make a deformation like that is when the terra cotta is applied. But if the soldier was made with imperfections, then it shouldn't have 'passed' inspections. This was probably done during the baking process. But what could've withstood the heat and made this dent?"

"This is a mystery." Alice heard some rustling sounds. "Who's there?"

Darn it! They know I'm here. Mira tried to stay as silent as possible.

"Mira, no need to hide. You heard everything, did you?" Shun saw Mira hiding behind a plant. "What do you want?"

"Shun, just stop the investigation. There's nothing good about this."

"And if we stop, what will you get? I think you really want us to investigate, but you just don't know how to say it."

"Shun, that's not what I mean!" Mira yelled. "Can't you ever listen to me? Do you know how much I sac-"

"Alice, let's just go. Let her hear everything she wants to hear." Shun and Alice left the exhibit.

Mira didn't know what to do, so she called Keith. "Hello?" he answered.

"Keith, I don't know what to now. I feel so lost."

"Maybe you need a break from everything. How about if you take Jasper out for a walk at the park or something?"

"Thanks, Keith. I'll be back soon."

Shun and Alice were completing their tasks when Ace showed up. "Ace?" Shun asked. "What are doing here?" Shun stood in front of Alice to protect her.

"Eh, I'm not here to fight. I'm here to apologize." Shun and Alice were surprised. "I hope you can forgive me for what I did. I was very impacted by Mira wanting to break up with me, so I did the same thing when I started liking Alice. Maybe I should just give up."

"Giving up on me, yes. But Mira, please don't." Alice replied. "No offence, but I don't think Shun and Mira aren't the best couple. They were just arguing about some investigation earlier. That doesn't make sense. It's just a small thing."

"No offence taken. Besides, I don't know why we started dating anyway. Now I realize that I found the right person." He stared at Alice, who was feeling very awkward.

"Congratulations, you two." Ace commented. "If only Mira would come back."

"Actually, I have a plan." Shun suggested. "This might have to sacrifice Ace a little by making him angry, but I'm sure Mira will come back, along with spilling the truth." The three of them gathered together while Shun said everything.

**~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~**

"Mommy, I want ice cream." Jasper asked. Mira sighed as she explained to her son.

"Jasper, it's too cold to have ice cream. Besides, there's not a single ice cream store around here. Mommy's going to buy something else, okay?" Jasper nodded anyway, and Mira's cell phone rang. "Hello?"

"Hey, Mira." It was Ace. "Can we go for dinner tonight? I need to talk to you."

"Ace, please don't look for me anymore."

"Mira, this has to do with Shun, Alice, me, and the investigation." Mira was shocked.

"Okay then. I'll go. Where are going?"

"To the cafe where we first met."

**~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~**

That night, Ace reserved a table for him and Mira. "Mira, over here!" Mira saw him and walked over. "Thanks a lot for coming. It means a lot to me."

"Enough with that. What do you want?" Mira looked through the menu. Ace tapped a few buttons on his cell phone.

Shun, who hid with Alice at a nearby parking lot, received the message. "Alice, time to move." She nodded and followed Shun out.

"Well, regarding the investigation..." Ace started. "I decided to take part in it, too." Mira choked on the decaf coffee she was drinking.

"What?! Ace, that's their business. You don't need to be involved."

"Well, they said that they needed my help, so yeah." Suddenly, Shun and Alice appeared walking together happily outside the window saw Ace and Mira talking together and having a good time. "Is it just me, or is Mira cheating on both sides?"

"I think there's more to cheating when it comes to Mira." Alice replied. "Now that you mention it, there is something not right about her. The other day, she forced Ace to give the files to you, and now she's talking to him like best friends."

"Ace is Mira's ex-boyfriend." Shun added. "Come on, Alice. We need to have a word with them."

"What the heck?" Mira looked outside while Shun and Alice looked inside. "Excuse me." Mira ran outside with Ace following. "Shun, are you-"

"Hello, lovebirds." Ace and Mira were surprised to hear what he said. "Looks like Mira can't stand leaving her ex-boyfriend, huh? Alice, let's go home."

"Shun, wait! Just let me explain!" She grabbed Shun's hand again, and he pried it away again.

"I hope you don't expect to tell you to never talk to Ace again because I'm not that type of person. Alice, we're leaving."

"Well, how do you explain you talking to Alice again?" Mira yelled.

"Mira Clay, we're over. I realized that you dated me not for love reasons, but so you could get information from me. What is it about that shiny rock that interests you anyway?"

"I don't get what you're talking about." Mira yelled. Suddenly, somebody yelled "Mommy!" from behind. "Oh no..."

"Mommy, where were you?" It was Jasper. "Mommy, why did you leave me alone with Nanny?"

Out of the three people, Ace was the most shocked one. "Did he just call you Mommy?" Mira didn't know what to do but to spill the truth. "You mean you had a kid with some guy and we never knew about it?"

"This was very unexpected." Shun whispered to Alice.

"His father isn't just any guy." Mira yelled. "I had no choice but to break up with his father before he was even born." Shun and Alice stared at Ace, who had the worst expression on his face ever.

"So you're saying that I'm his father. Why should I believe you?"

"He was surprise I wanted to tell you years ago. I had to make sure I was right by going to the hospital that afternoon, but everything went wrong."

"Why? What made you want to break up with me?"

"That, I can't say. I'm sorry." Ace was even more impacted than when Mira said to break up with him. "Nanny, just take Jasper home. Tell him nothing about this." The woman nodded and took the child away. "I'm sorry, but everything was supposed to be a secret. Oh my God..." Mira looked up into the sky and saw four shooting stars.

"This is an amazing sight.." Shun commented.

"I think there's an old myth saying that the four people that see for shooting stars fall at the same time will have a similar and mixed up fate forever." Alice added.

"Could that mean the four of us?" Ace asked. All four of them observed the phenomenon in awe.


	12. Off to Kunishiri Island

While Alice, Shun, Ace, and Mira observed the stars, a black limo pulled up. Two men, dressed in tuxedos, walked out, each taking Mira and Ace inside the limo. They were going to take Alice and Shun as well, but thanks to Shun's ninja skills and speed, they were able to run away.

"Thanks you so much, Shun." Alice hugged him. "I didn't know you were a ninja. You're really fast."

"It's all worth it." he replied. Shun read the license plate. " 'MF218KC.' Weird license plate, but easy to remember. Who knew that all of this would happen? Mira had a son with Ace and nobody knew it."

"I think the people in the limo didn't want us to know it, either. We need to find a way to save them. Otherwise, they might even die."

"Don't be so pessimistic, Alice. If a mother was willing to be cruel enough to break up with the father _before_ the child was born, then there must be serious problems behind it." The limo drove off down the street. "Wait a minute. I can't even see Ace and Mira through the windows."

"I hope that the child isn't taken as well. He has nothing to do with this."

"I need to call someone."

**~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~**

Ace woke up from the medicine he was drugged with. "Mira? Where are you?"

"Hello, lovebird." Keith stood in front of Ace. "How are you feeling?"

"Who are you? What do you want?"

"Nothing...except for the fact that I want you and the other two people dead!"

"Ace no!" Mira yelled from the other side. She was tied up in a chair and couldn't move. A tuxedo guy removed the tape off of her face to talk. "Keith, please."

"This is getting very interesting." Keith snickered. "Mira, was it really worth it to tell the truth to your ex? I thought you broke up with him."

"Keith, you forced me to. You forced me to break up with Ace, knowing that I was pregnant, to be with Shun just to get information about some lame shooting star!" Ace was shocked.

"What kind of a brother are you?! You've already tortured her enough. When are you going to be satisfied?"

"Here's the funny thing. I'll _never_ be satisfied unless I get that shooting star in my hands!" Keith pounded his fist into the wall near Ace.

"Keith, what's more important, me or that shooting star?"

"Shooting star, do I need to repeat that? With that, I'll be rich! Hahaha!"

Mira burst into tears. "I did all this, and you never give me anything good in return."

"Return? Eh, your _son_ is already annoying enough. That's what you get." He took a knife out. "Now, how am I going to torture you? Make you blind, make you deaf, make you mute, make you hand-less, or even better, make you lifeless?" He was going to put the knife into Ace's chest really slowly when Ace kicked Keith at the shins and made him trip. At the right angle, Ace adjusted his hands and feet to cut the ropes off.

"Mira! I'm coming!" He took the knife out of Keith's hand and cut Mira's ropes off. Ace also stabbed the tuxedo men so they couldn't go after him. "Don't worry, we'll be okay." Ace carried Mira bridal style out of the house, where they saw Shun and Alice. "How did you find us?"

"Easy. Tracked you from your cell phone. Get on the van." Shun opened a door to let Ace and Mira in while he and Alice got on the van as well. "Jake, to the airport now!" Jake ignited the car and drove off.

"Airport? Where are we going?" Ace asked as he helped Mira with the seat belt.

"Kunishiri. We booked your tickets already." Ace and Mira were surprised to hear that.

"What? But I can't leave Jasper behind!" Mira yelled.

"Don't worry. We looked up who that nanny was and notified her." Alice replied.

"You guys...but after all I did, you still trust me?"

"We realized that you didn't do it for yourself, but for others." Shun replied.

"Shun, you should've heard how cruel Mira's brother is. He was going to make me handicapped or even dead."

"She has a brother?" Alice was surprised. "No wonder...family comes first, doesn't it?"

"I'm really sorry for everything."

"Cheer up, Mira-san." Jake commented. "It's not every day that I get to meet new people, so I want our first impression of each other to be great. By the way, I'm Jake."

"Nice to meet you, Jake, I'm Ace."

"It was great meeting the two of you. Two bad we're at the airport already. Time to unload some stuff and get your tickets out." Jake opened the back space and handed everyone a ticket. "Have a great trip!" The four of them waved goodbye as they carried their bags into to the airport terminals.

"This terminal. Over here." Everyone followed Shun as they checked in. "We still have some time. Make sure that we all have everything we need." They all checked their bags to find exactly what they need.

"Wait, where are we going anyway?" Mira asked. "We're going to Kunishiri for what reasons?"

"Shooting stars." Alice replied. "Shun and I did a lot of research on this topic. Four shooting stars once landed here a long, long time ago. It was an omen for something, but we're not sure."

Suddenly, somebody spoke on the intercom. "Passengers that are going to Kunishiri Island, please board the plane at Gate F-12. Thank you."

"Come on, we need to get to the gate now." Ace looked at Mira. "What's wrong?"

"This where my brother and I were supposed to go when we had enough information." she replied. "He said that he was going to get some very important thing from here, but I don't know what."

"Are we going to Gate A-12 or what?!" Shun was getting impatient, and everyone moved on. Meanwhile, a man in a black tuxedo dialed a number.

"Hello? What is it?" Keith answered the call.

"Keith-sama, Mira-san and the others are boarding a plane to Kunishiri Island."

"Hmm...That was where we were supposed to go. Get a helicopter or a jet. I need to get there before them."

"Yes, Keith-sama. I understand." Both sides hung up.

By that time, Shun and the others were already on the plane. "I booked first class, and our seats are in the middle." They put their luggage inside the top cabinets and sat down, Alice with Shun and Ace with Mira..

"It just seems too perfect." Mira commented. "What if my brother finds us?"

"Then I'm going to punch him forever attack he puts on us." Ace slammed his fist.

"Ace, violence isn't the answer." Shun replied. "What's important is that we get there before her brother, whatever his name is."

"Keith Clay. My son's name is Jasper Clay."

"What? Why not Jasper Grit?"

"Okay, stop arguing. The next thing you know, something might happen, and that's not what we want." Alice interrupted. Every passenger put on their seat belts as the plane prepared for departure.


	13. Plan Exposed

"I think we can just walk there. The motel's right down the street." Shun pointed to a tan-colored building once they got outside the airport. "It's not like we have a lot of heavy luggage and would need a taxi."

"Shun's right. What's important now is looking for the shooting stars. At least, that's what I think." Alice added. The four of them crossed the street to the ryokan.

"Hello there!" The receptionist greeted. "How may I help you today?"

"Reservations under Kazami." Shun replied. The receptionist checked the computer and handed Shun a set of keys.

"Rm. 309. Enjoy your stay." Shun handed each of them a key and went upstairs. Rm. 309 was on the third floor, so it had a great view of the ocean. Alice put her bags down and walked out to the balcony.

"It's so refreshing up here." The wind blew gently through Alice's silky hair.

"If only we could stay here forever." Mira sighed.

"Don't worry. I'll take you here every summer from now on." Ace replied. He gave Mira a hug, who still looked pretty worried. "Now that I know why you broke up with me, I don't have to be mad at you anymore."

"Shun, where are we supposed to be going to today?" Alice asked. Shun was examining a map.

"Somewhere along the coast. I did a lot of work on calculating this."

"How did you calculate it?" Alice looked at Shun's notes. "Wow! When did you have the time to do all this?"

"When I'm home. I always felt like giving up because it was so complicated, but thanks to _somebody_-" Shun looked at Alice. "-giving me call every day to check on what I'm doing."

Alice's face blushed vermilion. "Eh, it's my responsibility to check on you to make sure you're okay because if you're not, then I won't pass the training."

Shun sat up from the sofa. "_Eh, _if I'm not okay, then I won't pass the training either. It's a team effort." He packed his backpack with a few water bottles and hiking material. "Speaking of _team effort_, it's time that we'd better head out." Everyone walked outside while Shun locked the door.

"Shun, how long does it take to lock a door?" Ace turned around, seeing that Shun hadn't left yet.

"Just need to turn this a few degrees more." Shun turned the key clockwise and pulled it out. "Done!" _If Keith or his people dare to pick the lock, they're going to either fail or break it permanently._ Shun cut in front of Ace, Alice, and Mira to lead the way. Again, a tuxedo man hiding behind a bamboo plant dialed a number. "Keith-sama, they're leaving the ryokan. What now?"

"I think you should just follow them. I have a feeling that Shun Kazami might have altered the lock."

"Yes, Keith-sama."

**~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~**

"What kind of beach is this? This isn't sand, it's pebbles." Mira was losing her balance and had both hands out, waving like crazy.

"Mira, you're not going to make it if you keep walking on pebbles in those boots!" Ace yelled. Everyone else wore flat soles.

"Shun, why didn't you say-ah!" Shun and Alice were busy looking at the map and notes, so Ace caught Mira in time.

"Are you okay? Do you need a new pair of shoes?" Ace laid Mira down on the pebbles to sit down while removing Mira's boots to check her ankle. "Oh my God, it swollen. Shun! Alice!" Finally, they heard the call and ran over.

"Mira, your ankle." Alice gently rubbed her ankle to ease away the pain. "This isn't going to work. You can't move, yet I don't feel safe in leaving you here."

Mira was surprised that after all she did to break Alice and Shun apart that Alice wouldn't mind at all. "It's okay. You go ahead. If my brother was to find us, he'd have to waste more time because we going separate ways. Hurry up!" Alice looked at Shun, who nodded, and left.

"Good luck, Ace." Shun said before he left. "Mira, I think we really should stay. Through the past few days, we've hurt them enough. All they want is to pass the training."

"And be together." Mira sighed. "Why am I always this unlucky?"

"You're never unlucky, not when I'm here."

Shun and Alice were still walking along the coastline. "Shun, your notes say that the shooting stars fell here, like, _thousands_ of years ago. What if it drifted away in the currents?"

"Impossible. I borrowed that machine thingy from Baron. It'll be able to detect if any rocks around here have a lot of carbon, in addition to that rare metal. I still haven't had the time to find out."

"What's so important about those shooting stars, anyway? Why do you and Keith Clay both want to find it?"

"Why Keith Clay wants it, I'm not sure. According to my research, the shooting stars _are_ an omen, for some special thing. I don't even know what it is, but I keep thinking that it's something great and important and shouldn't fall into the wrong hands."

"It's like a case of good vs. evil, but I still don't get just exactly what Keith will get out of this. Is it like a treasure that he wants, something edible, and maybe something-"

"Edible?" Shun seemed surprised. He looked through his notes and other articles. "Oh my God, this can't be true. It can't be..."

"What happened, Shun? Did I say something useful?"

"I think I know what Keith is looking for."

"What is it?"

"You don't need to know that." Two tuxedo men came and tied Shun and Alice up. One of them pressed his earphone. "Keith-sama, we have them."

"Great job. Bring them over while I talk to that traitorous sister of mine."

"Yes, Keith-sama." He hung up and along the other guy, they took Shun and Alice away.

Ace and Mira were lying against some rocks while Mira's ankle healed. "Thanks for staying behind with me, Ace. I know my brother will anything to find those shooting stars, but I really appreciate it that you're willing to stay for me."

"Nonsense, Mira. I'll always be here for you." Ace took a deep breath. "And Jasper. I've never met him or seen him, except for that one time, but I can tell that we'll get along really well."

"Speaking of Jasper..." Mira took a deep breath, too. "Ace, if anything happened to me, I want you to take really good care of Jasper. He's only 4. If he loses his mother, he can't lose his father, too."

"Mira, don't say that! Nothing will happen to you. I promise with all of my life."

"Well then, you'd better keep your promise and give me your life because things _will _happen to you two." Keith appeared suddenly.

"You again!" Ace stood up in anger. "You want to torture us even more or what?"

"Calm down, kid. You said that you'd promise to protect Mira with all of your life. How about trying to prove it?"

"Keith! Wait..." Mira looked around. "If you're here, then Alice and Shun-"

"Too late, sis. I've already held them hostage. They know too much about my plan already."

"What do you want?" Ace stood in front of Mira, but the tuxedo men came and got hold of both of them.

"I forgot. Mira, your _son_ might in trouble." Just from those words, Mira's eyes widened.

"Keith! You only have that one nephew! Can't you be more caring to others that have nothing to do with this?"

"Hah! Once it gets into my hands, I don't care how many nephews I have. Hahaha!"

"Once _it_ gets into your hands? What exactly are you looking for?"


	14. Shooting Star Love

"Be careful, Mira. Curiosity can really kill you." Keith replied. The other tuxedo men came back with Shun and Alice.

"Shun! Alice! What happened?" Mira yelled. They had tape on their faces and couldn't talk. "Keith, what do you want?"

"Why don't we let our smart guy over here do the explaining?" Keith ripped the tape of Shun's face.

"Mira, Ace, the four shooting stars that landed here thousands of years ago were an omen marking the place where the most crucial ingredient for an eternal life elixir was located. Your brother was after eternal life, to make a long story short." Seeing that he was done talking, Keith re-taped Shun's mouth.

"Eternal life? You're stupid! There's no such thing as eternal life." Ace yelled as the tuxedo man that tied him pulled him down.

"Well, if that's all you have to say, then we'll have the smart guy lead us to where the shooting stars are located." Keith pushed Shun to move forward and lead the way.

"I'm so sorry for all of this. If it wasn't for me, we'd all be having a peaceful life back in Hokkaido now." Mira burst into tears.

"Mira! It's not your fault!" Alice yelled back. "It's just that brother with that strong desire of yours. He's the one that's making us suffer and hurt each other when we were all living a fine and great life." A tuxedo man slapped Alice on the face to shut her up.

"What the heck? How dare you hit Alice?" Shun wanted to retaliate, but another tuxedo man pinched his arm really hard.

"Why don't you just lead the way? That's more important than a _girl,_ isn't it?" Keith criticized from behind.

"Important? I'd rather be with the person I love and die with her than be lonely and get old for eternity." Shun glared.

"Shun..." Alice was very impacted. After hearing that, Alice felt better from that slap already, no matter painful it still was.

"Don't worry, Alice." Shun winked. "I'll find a way to get out of this." Seeing that he had no choice, Shun led the tuxedo men and Keith to the place where he _thought_ the shooting stars had landed. When they got there, everything looked like a huge mess.

"Some smart guy you are. Look at this! Does it look like that any shooting stars have landed here?" Keith was very disappointed. In front of him was a flat, pebbly field where it looked like kids have been here and messed around in.

"If you don't trust me, fine. But you'd want to trust this metal detector." Shun pointed to the one attached to his belt, which gave off very faint but fast beeping noises. "I adjusted it so that it'd look for the smallest traces of carbon and that rare metal in the shooting stars. Before you go searching, I have a question."

"What do you want?"

"Just curious why that terra cotta soldier at our museum has red fabric dust on it. That fabric dust contains some of this rare metal, too. Also, why is the back of that soldier deformed. Can you explain all that?"

"Cut it with the crap, smart guy? Just because you know about my plan doesn't mean you know about every-""

"There's a huge connection between all of this. The king of Aoumioka, now called Hokkaido, wanted the eternal life elixir, and one day, four shooting stars fell onto Reijima, which is out modern day Kunishiri Island. At the same time, a palace maiden fell in love with a palace guard. The problem was that the king liked the maiden, too. After finding out their 'affair,' the king immediately ordered to bake that guard into a terra cotta soldier. Another shooting star must of fell around that time. Now, it's up to us to find out the truth. See if you can find that secret ingredient around here, Keith, because I _can't_."

"How do you know such things? Guess what? Curiosity can kill." Keith was going to stab Shun, but Mira stopped him.

"Curiosity does kill, Keith, but it kills others. It's going to kill you, too."

"Why should I listen to you? I have my own mi-" Keith tripped while walking backwards away from them. "Could it be? Is this the secret ingredient I'm looking for?" He held a bunch of kelp in his hands. "It is! This is the rare kelp that I'm looking for." Keith stuck a bunch of raw kelp into his mouth and ate it.

"You shouldn't have eaten that." Shun warned. "Yes, the shooting stars were an omen. A bad omen. That kelp is extremely poisonous. That was a lesson taught for those who dare go after eternal life."

"What?!" Keith began coughing and turning purple. Mira broke loose and went over to her brother.

"Keith! Keith! Shun, is there an antidote for this?"

"Sorry, Mira. Because this is a rare species of kelp, not many people would put the effort into finding a cure for it." Mira was going to faint, and Ace broke loose, too, and went over to catch Mira.

"Y-You bastards! How d-dare y-you l-lie to me?!" Keith was losing his breath. Suddenly, something shining appeared in the night sky.

"What's going on?" Alice asked.

"Just as I expected. Another shooting star is going to land _right here!_ Come on, we have to leave." Everyone ran back to the road, but Mira wouldn't budge.

"Keith, take my hand!" Mira offered her hand to Keith, but he didn't accept it. The shooting star hit directly for where Keith was lying down.

"Keith!" Mira had no choice but to see her brother die.

"It's okay, Mira. Everything's okay. We have Jasper." Ace consoled her.

"This is the negative side of our desires. They can actually kill you." Alice sighed.

"They also teach you a very important lesson." Shun added.

**~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~**

"Jasper, over here!" Ace was playing tag with his son while Mira sat on the bench taking as many pictures as possible. It had been a few days since they came back from Kunishiri Island, and Mira had gotten over the grief from her brother's death.

"Ace, Jasper, why don't we take a family picture?"

"Okay!" Jasper ran to his mother and sat on the bench. Ace sat on the other side of Jasper and propped the other side of the camera up. Mira pressed the button, a light flashed.

"Let's see the picture." Mira scrolled through the gallery. "Isn't that cute? Ace, you want to send Shun and Alice a copy of this?"

"I was just going to ask the same thing." Ace sat up and carried Jasper in his arms. "Come on, Jasper. Daddy's going to turn on the laptop." Mira couldn't help but laugh at what Ace just said.

**~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~**

Alice was outside the observatory room of the museum, looking up at the sky. _Does Shun really mean it, or it is because Mira is back with Ace?_ Alice was perplexed by this feeling. Later, Shun appeared as well.

"Alice, aren't you cold standing up here?" He took off his jacket and put it on Alice's shoulders. "You don't want to get a cold right around when we're about to pass the training."

"Shun, can I ask you something?"

"Sure. What is it?"

"Did you mean what you really meant by the words you told me when we were still on Kunishiri Island?"

"Of course I do. Honesty is one of my most important virtues."

"About that story about the palace maiden and the guard. You're saying that they were brought together by shooting stars?"

"Exactly. This entire life story was recorded on some bamboo scroll I found during excavation.."

"Then do you think we were brought together by shooting stars, like the ones we saw the other day at the restaurant?"

"I think it's the shooting stars _and_ fate."

"True love never dies, doesn't it?"

"Just like the palace maiden and the palace guard."

"I think I know what that red fabric dust was, but I'm just guessing."

"What is it?"

"A red wedding kimono."

Suddenly, Shun put his face closer to Alice's and kissed her on the lips as shooting stars fell in the sky.


End file.
